Saving Seafood

Louisiana Seeks Public Input on Red Snapper Management

April 10, 2017 — As the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries continue to work towards a resolution regarding the management of red snapper, the LWFC invited representatives from the Louisiana commercial, charter and private sectors to their monthly meeting to provide input. Two representatives from each sector expressed their respective group’s concerns and comments on the topic.

The department urges Louisiana red snapper fishermen to voice their opinions and will continue to accept public comments on red snapper management via their website and email. Individuals interested in submitting a comment can visit the department’s homepage and navigate to the ‘red snapper management’ button, click here or email redsnapper@wlf.la.gov.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

Louisiana not ready for early shrimp season

April 7, 2017 — While shrimp conditions are good this year, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission isn’t ready to open the spring season early.

Commission members said at their meeting today in Baton Rouge that they want more data before setting the dates for the season.

Nearly all of the shrimpers at the meeting said they would rather wait for the season to open at the normal time so the shrimp can grow to be larger. The spring shrimp season usually opens in mid to late May.

LDWF biologist Jeff Marx said data he’s collected show better conditions than in previous years. Shrimp size, growth and development generally depend on the amount of rainfall, the temperature and salinity level of the water.

But shrimpers spoke against an early season.

“We have a year where Jeff’s data, so far, stated we have optimum weather for growth,” said Houma shrimper Barry Rogers. “I’ve spoken to factories, spoken to fishermen (and) everyone would like to see us at least work on 60 to 70 count (per pound) shrimp. It would be great for the fishermen and great for the processors.”

Read the full story at Houma Today

Over 5,600 abandoned crab traps removed from Louisiana waters

April 6, 2017 — Over the course of the 30-day blue crab closure, volunteers, staff and members of the commercial fishing industry were out in full force, collecting more than 5,600 traps during the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ annual Derelict Crab Trap Rodeos.

The first volunteer day was March 4 at Sweetwater Marina in Delacroix. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation headed the event with volunteers from the general public, Coastal Conservation Association and personnel from Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and collected 1,542 traps. LPBF and LDWF personnel continued to work during the closure to collect an additional 1,970 and 310 traps respectively. This effort brought the total number of derelict crab traps removed from the Pontchartrain Basin to 3,822.

“In the Pontchartrain Basin, we had a threefold increase in the number of recovered derelict traps from last year due to outstanding collaboration with volunteers, St. Bernard Parish, LDWF, commercial fishermen, CCA, Sweetwater Marina, and Boat Stuf,” said Dr. John Lopez with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. “We estimate that over 130,000 crabs per year were saved with these efforts.”

The second volunteer day was held March 11 at Isle De Jean Charles Marina in Montegut. The event was headed by LDWF with volunteers from the general public and CCA. Four hundred and ninety-three traps were collected during the volunteer event, and LDWF personnel picked up an additional 88 traps during the closure period. The effort in the Terrebonne Basin saw a total of 581 traps removed.

Read the full story at FOX8

LOUISIANA: Red snapper presentation tops LWFC agenda

April 6, 2017 — Although listed among the items deep into the agenda for the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, the entitled “Receive input on Red Snapper Management from members of the Louisiana commercial, charter, and private recreational sectors,” likely will highlight Thursday’s monthly meeting.

Chairman Chad Courville is scheduled to open the meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Louisiana Room of state Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge.

It was Courville who asked for the red snapper presentation saying he and the other six commission members needed further delineation on the wants and needs of these user groups in order to determine the future of the state’s approach to red snapper management.

In another top item, the LWFC will call on State Shrimp Program manager Jeff Marx for a presentation on the program’s operation, then discuss the possibility of a special late April meeting to set the spring inshore shrimp season. For most of the past 40 years, the commission met in the first week of May to consider the spring season’s opening dates in three coastal zones.

The LWFC will also receive final public comment, then undertake formal adoption of the 2017-2018 hunting seasons and regulations for resident and migratory game, and dates and rules for the same time frame on the more than 1 million acres of state wildlife management areas and federal lands.

Read the full story at The Advocate

Lousiana Sea Grant likely dead if Trump budget approved, director says

March 20, 2017 — Louisiana Sea Grant, which has provided research to state officials for setting oyster and shrimp seasons, developed new storm-safe dock locations to prevent the creation of marine debris caused by hurricanes, and whose researchers are assisting state officials in development of coastal Master Plan wetlands restoration projects, would likely not survive the draconian budget cut proposed by President Donald Trump, its director said Friday.

Buried on page 14 of Trump’s 62-page “skinny budget” summary for the 2018 fiscal year released Thursday (March 16) was the axing of all funding for the nation’s Sea Grant programs, including Louisiana.

“Zeroes out over $250 million in targeted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grants and programs supporting coastal and marine management, research, and education including Sea Grant, which primarily benefit industry and State and local stakeholders,” says the president’s budget. “These programs are a lower priority than core functions maintained in the budget such as surveys, charting, and fisheries management.”

Read the full story at The Times Picayune

LOUISIANA: Season opens early for bait fish to meet demand

March 6, 2017 — The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission  announced a  Declaration of Emergency to open the commercial season for the harvest of bait menhaden starting Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

The actions on this declaration by the LWFC comes after request from the bait menhaden industry.

The commercial season for the harvest of bait menhaden typically opens on November 1 and runs through November 30 with a 3,000 metric ton quota. In the event that quota is not harvested during the normal November season, the bait season may resume April 1 of the following year.

Read the full story at KATC

Louisiana menhaden season to open March 15

March 3, 2017 — The commercial season for the harvest of bait menhaden will open March 15, the state Wildlife and Fisheries Commission decided today.

The season typically runs Nov. 1-20 with a 3,000-metric-ton quota. But when quota is not harvested during the normal season, the agency can reopen the fishery April 1 of the following year.

The bait industry asked the commission to open the season two weeks earlier to meet customer demand, officials said. The quota was not met in 2016, and opening the season two weeks earlier is not expected to negatively impact the quota or regular commercial menhaden season.

Read the full story at Houma Today

Crabbers: Blue crab moratorium will hurt workers, customers

February 21, 2017 — Beginning February 20, Louisiana will enact a first-ever, statewide closure of blue crab fisheries. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says the crab stock is dangerously close to over-harvest and this break will give the population more time to grow.

The harvest restrictions are for immature blue female crabs, except those being held for processing of softshell crabs. According to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, the restrictions should help reduce the fishing pressure on the blue crab stock and encourage a stronger population when the ban ends March 21, 2017.

The statewide shutdown of the Louisiana crab fishery is new, and crabbers say holding the ban in the spring leaves many of them without work. Crabbers also argue it leaves customers without a Lenten favorite.

Crab will not be completely missing from local menus or markets. Crab from outside Louisiana will still be available, although crabbers said they predict the price for blue crab meat will increase and could come at a lower quality.

The 30-day closure of the commercial harvest and the use of crab traps will go into effect in 2017 and last through 2019.

Read the full story at WWLTV

Crab fishing closing in Louisiana, open for business in Mississippi

February 13, 2017 — Louisiana is planning a 30-day closure of blue-crab fisheries in state waters, but Mississippi officials don’t expect it to have much effect here.

From Feb. 20 to March 21, Louisiana is enacting a closure of the blue crab fisheries that will prohibit harvesting of immature female crabs in an effort to give juveniles a breather and hopefully encourage a stronger crab population.

The closure has everyone from fishermen to chefs talking, according to TheAdvocate.com, but officials with the Department of Marine Resources say it shouldn’t affect the fisheries in Mississippi waters.

LOUISIANA: Sea lords and the secret votes that made them rich

February 9, 2017 — What do you have the right to see, as a citizen of this country? if a vote takes place that essentially gives away a public resource for nothing, should you see who votes yes and who votes no?

When we showed Congressman Garret Graves the response to our Freedom of Information Act request, he laughed.

The response was a heavily-redacted tally of votes, conducted years ago, that helped hand over tens of millions of dollars every year to a small group of fishermen. We requested the vote count in our FOIA request, but the federal government gave us little of the information we requested, blacking out the key part: who voted yes and who voted no.

“This is a public body,” notes Graves, a Louisiana Republican. “You can’t hide the votes from this. That’s not OK.”

When we showed him the blacked-out lists again, he tells us, “Not for long – because I’m going to get the answer to that.”

Read the full story here at FOX 8